"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."

Every time I hear or read those words in Sacred Scripture, I cannot help but be moved. They are words of longing, words of seeking and words of desperation. They are the words we all hold in our hearts, even if we don’t think we do. We want to pray and we want to pray the “right” way.We can see that we are not that different from the Apostles in that regard.

Is there a right way?Certainly the Lord’s Prayer is the perfect prayer and contains everything we need. Every time we say that prayer we do something very good. However, I think when it comes to prayer it is hard to label it wrong, unless of course we are praying for something evil or totally self-serving. Prayer should be about praising God, thanking God and asking for blessings on our family and friends.

Prayer should also be about listening. Listening, you say? Indeed, listening to what God has to say to us, listening for what vocation God wants for us, being able to answer the call of Jesus and not allowing it to be drowned out by the noise of the world. Silence is not just golden, it is required. It is required if we want to hear the answer to our prayers because much like any conversation, if we keep talking while the others are speaking we will not hear what they have to say. Prayer is a conversation between Jesus and ourselves and if we are going to be good conversationalists then we need to listen to what Jesus is saying. You could certainly figure this out on your own, but sometimes it needs to be pointed out because we aren’t always good at seeing the obvious. Enter into prayer, enter into the very experience and open your heart to the word that God is speaking to you and you alone.